Honoring the Legacy: Toph
by PolarBearMagus
Summary: 15 years after the war, Toph takes on a deaf sandbender for a student and gets dragged into political intrigue and assassination attempts.
1. Welcome Back to Ba Sing Se

A/N: This is my contribution to an in-progress collaborative project on AvatarPortal. The premise is that the members of the Gaang (and other various characters) have been separated and living separately for the last fifteen years; now they are each taking on a student. This is Toph's story. Disclaimer: I do not own anything on Avatar. (p.s. if you would like to read the parts of the project written by the other authors, go here: http://avaportal. )

* * *

To anyone watching the young woman stepping off the boat, it looked like she was awestruck by the great walled city before her, that she was struggling to see it all at once. But there were two problems with that observation. Toph Bei Fong was rarely awestruck, and never by Ba Sing Se. And there was the small problem of her being blind. Though it may have looked like she was staring in amazement at the city, she was actually trying to remember her directions. 

"Sometimes I really miss that fluffy cowbug," she grumbled as she boarded the train that would take her into the heart of the Earth Kingdom capital. The last time she'd been here, she'd had friends to metaphorically lean on, and she was able to bear the worst of this stifling city. But now she was on her own.

Forcing them from her mind, she turned again to the forgotten directions. She was trying to find the Bei Fong family house, but asking around would lead to uncomfortable questions. "Oh, are you Toph?" "_The_ Toph?" "The Toph who taught the Avatar?" "Can you teach _me_?" "You're the only metalbender in the world?!" "Can you demonstrate for us?" "Can you teach _me_?!" "Can you teach me metalbending?!"

Toph had tried to teach metalbending to some unfortunate souls who showed promise, but they were never good enough. They relied too much on their eyes, and the skill eluded them again and again.

So she swore never to take another student, at least not until she was over 100. And without an obnoxious student, she was free to travel the world, to take on everyone, earthbenders and non-earthbenders alike, who thought they could best her in battle. Victory was too easy, and soon these glory-seekers completely avoided her. Oh well, who needed them?

Now she was forced to come to the worst city in the world, all because of her family. Toph's cousin, a very important asset to the family because of her political ties, had disappeared. Just vanished. And the rest of the family didn't care.

She remembered this cousin. They had only met three or four times, but she had been the _one_ person in Toph's life who hadn't treated her like a fragile, blind flower, and Toph was determined to return the favor.

She felt the vibrations of a woman coming to stand in front of her. "Miss Bei Fong?"

"Who's asking?"

The woman bowed. "I am a servant in your family's House. I have been sent to bring you home."

"I can find it myself," Toph grumbled.

"Please, Miss. It is my duty to -"

"I _said_, I can find it myself!"

"Forgive me, my lady, but I was given explicit instructions -"

"Yeah, that's right!" Toph cried, jumping to her feet. "Let's lead Toph around by the hand because she's _blind_, and we wouldn't want her to get lost!"

The woman seemed confused. "Precisely, my lady."

Toph narrowed her eyes. Then she felt a tug on her sleeve. "Excuse me, miss," said an old man sitting next to her. "Are you _the_ Toph?"

With a groan, she slapped her forehead and thought _Welcome back, Toph. Welcome back._


	2. New Student

A/N: And we meet the student! I wanted to give Toph a challenge...

* * *

"This way, my lady." The woman servant opened the door of the Bei Fong family house. "Master Gui is expecting you in the parlor." Toph could tell she was pointing then, embarrassed, quickly pulling her hand down.

Toph stepped over the threshold and tripped. The woman half-raised her hands to help, but Toph had already caught herself on the door frame. She pushed herself up, and gingerly patted the splintered wood. The door frame had buckled under her weight and snapped in two.

"Don't worry about it," the servant said in a mix of annoyance and pity. "It was an accident. Go on, I'll fix it." She knelt to examine the post.

Toph smirked. That would show her. She continued down the hall. She passed a closed door on the left where she could hear low voices. Probably some of her cousins. She kept walking until she reached the parlor the servant had pointed to.

There was no one inside.

Unimpressed, Toph flopped down on one of the chairs and propped her feet up on another. She flung her bag into a third chair, and leaned back into the cushions. With a practiced air, she unhooked her meteorite bracelet from her arm and began bending it into new shapes.

She was beginning to wonder if she should just bring the whole House down when she felt an older man approaching. He didn't knock, but strode right into the room. "No, don't get up," he began, then realized that Toph had not budged.

"I am Gui Bei Fong, Head of the House. You must be Toph."

"And _you_ must be ugly. But it's hard to tell." She waved a hand in front of her face before snapping her bracelet back onto her arm.

She couldn't feel through the thick carpet that he was tensing with dislike, but she could hear it in his voice. "You wished to speak to me about something important?" he reminded her.

"Don't I get a drink?"

"We will not be here for very long," Gui said.

Toph frowned. She hadn't expected a warm reception, but this was just rude with a mask of politeness. She hated nobles for that.

"I'm looking for Jiao. You may not have noticed, but she's been missing for a month now."

"Ah yes," said Gui. By the ruffling sound, he was pulling a piece of parchment out of his robes. "It is hardly a mystery. She left a letter. Perhaps you would care to read it?" he asked blandly. Toph bit back an angry retort.

"I will leave the honor to you," she growled.

Gui cleared his throat. "'To my dear family,'" he read. "'I am sorry, but I must leave. I must help the refugees around the world rebuild their lives, or I am no better than those who allowed the war to happen in the first place. Best of luck to you, and may we meet again in this life or the next, Jiao.'"

He gave Toph a moment to let the words sink in, then added, "It is in her own hand, and her own voice. There is no doubt as to what has happened to her. I am sorry that you came all this way for nothing -"

"How can you believe that?" she protested, sitting up. "How can you accept that letter as proof? It _has_ to be a trick!"

"With all due respect, Toph, I have _seen _more of Jiao than you have. I am more aware of what she will and will not do, and this impulse of hers to leave is quite in keeping with her character. If you will allow me -"

"Fine!" Toph cried, jumping to her feet. "If you don't care what really happened to her, then I'll just have to find out myself!" With a jerk of her hand, she pulled her bag to her, and with a stomp of her foot, toppled all of the furniture into the far wall. The Head of the Family stumbled over his protests, but Toph was already out the door.

"Come back here!" Gui ordered.

"Not on your life," Toph mumbled. She was almost out of this wretched house when the door she had paused at an hour earlier opened and three people spilled out into the hallway.

"Please!" the woman was crying. "We haven't anywhere else to go!"

Without enough warning to stop, Toph slammed into the group. She felt enough vibrations to recognize a man, a woman, and a young boy, perhaps fourteen. She guessed that they were a family. Another man, finely dressed in the manner of her family members, stood in the doorway. "We'll not take him!" he snapped. "Leave at once!"

"Toph!" called Gui, striding down the hall.

The man and woman turned as one. "Toph? _The_ Toph?"

Very aware of the Head of House bearing down on her, she resisted the urge to punch them. "Yes, that's me. Gotta run." She tried to push past the boy, who seemed to be slow to react, but he grabbed her arm tightly.

"But you can help us!" said the man. "You can teach our son!"

"No, I don't take students," she protested.

"Nobody will take your son on," Gui said, having caught up to them. "Nobody can teach someone like him."

His tone made Toph focus her attention on the conversation. "What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously.

"Our son is deaf, my lady," the woman explained.

"Our people refuse to teach him," said the man, "and we have traveled all over Ba Sing Se to find a teacher, but no one will take him."

"Stop speaking this nonsense," Gui ordered. "I want you out of this house."

"We thought since your family taught you when you were blind," the woman continued hurriedly, "that they would do the same for our son. But now we see that is not the case."

"I told you, we cannot -"

"I'll do it."

Everyone looked at her in surprise. "I'll do it," she repeated. "I'll teach your son to bend." She would do it if only to spite Gui Bei Fong.

"Oh, thank you!" cried the parents. The son bowed very low.

"Meet me at the gate of the outer wall tomorrow at dawn," she told her new student. He bowed again, and the family was finally shuttled out of the house.

"Very noble of you," Gui commented dryly. "To take him on."

"Everyone should get a chance to prove themselves," Toph replied. "And a deaf earthbender can't be any worse than a blind one."

Gui laughed. "If only he were an earthbender," he said. "But that boy is nothing less than a sandbender."


	3. Sandbending Lesson

The wall of Ba Sing Se loomed over As'ad. He never thought he would be here. Not in the capital, not with a master willing to teach him, nothing. His interpreter, Ismat, must have sensed some of his nervousness because he clasped a hand on the boy's shoulder in reassurance. Ismat was right; he was going to be fine. Hopefully.

Before he could organize his thoughts, he spotted Toph Bei Fong leaning against the wall, playing with something in her hands. She was older than he expected. In his mind, the girl of legend would always be twelve years old, but this woman was in her late twenties. She was dressed in loose green and cream clothes, with a cloud of hair tightly controlled into a series of braids. With blank eyes, she snapped something onto her arm – a bracelet – and stepped out to meet them.

As'ad and Ismat bowed to the only metalbender in the world. He watched Ismat explain._My lady, may I present As'ad of the Hami tribe_.As'ad bowed again, but kept his eyes on the others.

_Who are you?_ Toph asked the man.

_Ismat_, he said. _I am As'ad's interpreter. He will make hand signs, and I will tell you what he says. I can also interpret what you've said if he doesn't see you speaking. He can read lips,_ he added when he saw Toph's confused expression.

_Alright, whatever_, she said, waving a hand in dismissal. She turned to As'ad. _We're going to be working outside the city, so stand back._

He swiftly moved out of the way, but Ismat said, _Wait, shouldn't we_-

Toph brought her hands up, and pushed down with what looked like all of her strength. A section of the wall began to sink into the ground with a rumble that shook the earth. As'ad stared in shock at where there had once been a solid wall that kept out all invaders of the city. Toph nudged him, and he remembered where he was.

He followed his new teacher into the wall, Ismat one step behind. _That was amazing!_ As'ad said through the interpreter. _When we came into Ba Sing Se they used a whole team of earthbenders just to make an entranceway_.

Toph shrugged.

_Now, let's get something straight_, she warned as they walked through the wall. _I can "see" with earthbending, through the vibrations in the ground. But sand is trickier. It muffles vibrations, and I can't "see" as well. But don't even think about trying any funny business. You won't like the consequences_.

As'ad wondered if perhaps he had made a mistake accepting her for a master.

They emerged from the wall, and Toph restored it before leading As'ad and Ismat far enough out from the city to give them plenty of room. As'ad let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He hadn't realized being in Ba Sing Se had made him so nervous until he was outside, with the wind on his face and the sand beneath his shoes.

The ground heaved under his feet. He flew through the air and landed with a thud. He scrambled up so he could see his teacher's face. She was smirking at a spot five paces to his left.

_Look alive, Mush Brain_! She flapped a hand at Ismat to signal him to stand back, then brought her hands up into a battle-ready position. _I'm not going easy on you just because you're missing a sense_.

As he staggered to his feet, he flicked a _How mushy are the brains of those missing their_ common _sense?_ to Ismat, who clapped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing.

Toph and As'ad began to circle each other. He could feel that during their brief respite, his teacher had hardened the sand into solid ground. He knew she hated the shifty stuff, but she was supposed to be teaching him how to use it, not avoid it. And this, this was some sort of test.

_Stay inside the circle_, Toph was saying, and As'ad could have stabbed himself for missing the first part. She didn't look the sort to repeat information, even if it turned out to be the most important in his lessons.

As'ad lunged forward, punching his arm straight ahead. It was the perfect form. All those in the Hami Tribe kind enough to let him watch, to imitate, or even correct him during practice gave him a solid technique. But, never being allowed to bend, the form was there, the art was not. The sand at his feet fluttered, but no more.

Toph tapped her heel, and As'ad's feet sunk several inches into the sand. He windmilled his arms but only air was able to move his element.

_Yield_, Toph commanded, slowly making her way to her trapped student. When he only shook his head she said louder, _Yield!_ She was staring at As'ad's foot. Something in the back of As'ad's mind, the cool calculating part, remembered that Toph couldn't see very well through the sand. A plan clicked into place, and he waited for Toph to approach.

Closer. Taunt me all you like, Sifu.

Closer. I'll not break.

Close -

As'ad spun his legs, the loose sand flying everywhere, and swept them under Toph's own. She teetered, then lost her balance completely. She landed on her butt with a loud thunk.

He stepped back warily. To his surprise, Toph grinned. _Good work_, he watched her say. _You used my weakness to your advantage, but even more importantly, you stood your ground against me when there was no way out_.

_But you_, he signed, Ismat speaking the words he couldn't, _I was stuck_.

_Exactly_. She climbed to her feet but didn't bother to brush off the sand that clung to her clothes. _We'll make an earthbender of you yet!_


	4. Communication and Invitation

"Home sweet home," Toph said dryly as she opened the door on the small house she was renting. She held the door while her new roommates entered. Ismat seemed slightly awed, but As'ad was impossible to read. Both of them only had a single small bag to hold their possessions.

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Ismat said.

"Yeah yeah, we know, you've said so a million times. But As'ad is my student and I want him to stay near me, so that's that. Let me show you to your rooms."

She left them to unpack while she explored downstairs. There were more rooms than she needed, but there hadn't been many choices. She didn't want to stay long anyway, just until she found out about her cousin. A plan. She needed a plan. Some way to find out what had happened to her. But she had no idea what to do.

The floorboards vibrated beneath her feet and As'ad appeared at the entrance to the room. "Settling in all right?" she asked.

He bowed. This was going to get annoying fast, she realized. She couldn't remember meeting anyone this emotionless. She sighed and dropped her bag on one of the cushions.

"Okay, we need a system. How about you clap for 'yes' and stomp for 'no.' Do you understand?"

As'ad clapped.

"Cool." She collapsed next to the cushion and lifted the flap on her bag so she could rummage through it. She had an itching to do something, but she couldn't say what.

As'ad sat down on the cushion next to her. He hesitated, then tapped her bag.

"'What's this?'" she asked to verify.

He put her hand on the metal rings that lined the canvas along the strap and seams. "Oh this. It's so I can move my bag when I need to without touching it. I bend the rings, and the bag follows." She held out her hand and made a sharp sweeping motion. The bag circled the room, then settled neatly between them again.

As'ad started to sign something, then stopped. He clapped instead.

"Bet you're awesome at charades, huh?"

There was a knock on the front door. Toph got up to answer it.

"Master Toph Bei Fong?" asked the man standing there.

"Yeah? What do you want."

"I have a message." He handed her a scroll and left his hand out for a tip. Toph shut the door in his face.

"You can read, right?" she asked As'ad as she dropped the scroll in his lap. She tried to look like she didn't care what was on the scroll as she listened to the rustling of the paper. It was probably from the House. Those meddling pretending lumps of -

As'ad tapped her shoulder determinedly and shook the paper. He pointed, but she couldn't tell what he was pointing at. This is pathetic, she thought miserably as he tapped her shoulder again.

Ismat appeared on the stairs. "As'ad?" he called.

"Get down here!" Toph ordered. "I need you to read something." She snatched the scroll from As'ad and shoved it at the interpreter. He read it once, then again.

"Read it!" she snapped. "What are you waiting for, an invitation?"

"Actually," he said. "That's exactly what this is." Toph's frown deepened as he read. "'Dear Master Toph Bei Fong, You are hereby invited to the palace tomorrow night to celebrate the birthday of the Earth King. You may bring one guest. Please show this invitation to the palace guard upon your arrival. I look forward to speaking with you,' signed, the Earth King."

"Oh for -"

As'ad clapped.

Toph turned in amazement. "You really want to go?"

Clap.

She cleared her throat. "You really want to go to a party full of nobles who lie through their teeth and insult you by smiling and tell you what to do and generally annoy the life out of every sane person?"

Clap. He didn't seem ecstatic, or even happy, but this seemed important to him. She thought it over. Getting into the palace would give her a chance to poke around to find out what happened to her cousin. Since that was the last place she had been, it would be silly of Toph not to go. And now that As'ad was here...

"Alright," she decided. "You and I will go to this party tomorrow." As'ad bowed.

Ismat spluttered, "What about me? I would like to meet the Earth King."

"'One guest,'" she pointed out. Grumbling, Ismat stalked out of the room.

As'ad bowed again. "Now we have lessons of another kind," she said and punched him in the shoulder. He fell over in a tangle of limbs. "What are you lying around for, let's get to work!"

As'ad clapped his hands feebly. Excellent, Toph thought. He'll be ready to face the palace after the next solar eclipse. I can hardly wait.


End file.
